Ashan Thudugala

Ashan is a conservationist who focuses on small wild cat conservation and research. Ashan co-founded the Small Cat advocacy &Research organization in Sri Lanka. He has also led the save Fishing Cat conservation project since 2013 to protect and preserve the small wild cats. He works with the local communities in central and northern Sri Lanka while monitoring the human–wild cat conflict and threats against Fishing Cats. He strongly believes in community-based conservation and threat re-education to save small wild cats species from local extinction.

At present Ashan reads for his master’s degree on population monitoring of Fishing Cats in protected landscapes in the Postgraduate Institute of Science at the University of Peradeniya, while working as a local collaborator of Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation and as a member of the Fishing Cat working group. Through his projects to conserve small cats, he directly engages with threat reduction practices. As a primary solution for the road kill problems in central hills Sri Lanka, he has established road signs and information boards in crucial road kill areas and is also working with the government authorities to expand these signs around the country.

Additionally Ashan is working on building enclosures for permanently damaged small wild cats and plans to turn those facilities into rehab centers to care for those species. He has also organized many workshops, youth camps, and awareness programs targeting school children in his study areas since 2014. Through these programs, he aims to promote conservation practices among younger generations by motivating and facilitating a platform for newcomers to the field.